June 7, 2010 5:00 am

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June 9, 2010 5:00 am

August 10, 2009 2:00 pm

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August 11, 2009 2:00 pm

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center

“I’m afraid I will be successful at things that don’t matter,” a Christian man began.  “I want to learn what will change the core of my being.  My accomplishments as a person are worth little if my focus is on the fiscal and physical.”  It is not often that one hears such honesty.  Human cultures everywhere focus on the external.  What one produces makes them what they are.  Prestige is given to measurable accomplishment.  The unseen is unvalued.  Building the internal, from the inside, out, creates a strong personal core.

Alexis de Tocqueville the French sociologist, visited America at the beginning of the 19^th century to see what made the fledgling country distinctive.  de Tocqueville discovered a population which lived life based on unwavering, religious principles.  He referred to these internal barometers as “habits of the heart.”

By contrast, individuals and organizations today focus on what is referred to as “values.” The meaning of values can be characterized as (1) arbitrary-individual or institutional choice reigns, (2) acceptable-current conditions or culture dictates what matters most, and (3) authority-tied to the consumer, “what sells” is often the basis for values.  I refer to values as a weak word.  We need strong terms that clearly designate our intentions.

A better word is “virtue” which describes “conformity to a standard or right.”  In Church history Augustine, Aquinas, and others subscribed to justice, prudence, temperance, and courage as key virtues. Virtue is infused by God with an ultimate good in sight not inflated by human pride. There is a desire to build good people from the inside, out. Virtues are what de Tocqueville meant by “habits of the heart.”

Those who study literature know that a life is best built from the inside, out.  Harold Brodkey wrote

As a rule, a writer and a book or a poem are no good if the writer is essentially unchanged morally after having written it. . . . Writing always tends toward a kind of moral stance-this is because of the weight of logic and of truth in it . . . [1]

Sven Birkets exclaims, “literature remains the unexcelled means of interior exploration and connection-making.”[2] Virtuous stories build a person’s interiority.  Vigen Guroian’s name has been on my lips for more than a decade.  “Why Should Businessmen Read Great Literature”[3] is an essay inverting the importance of the external over the internal.  A more succinct reason why novels establish ethics in any reader will be hard to find.

Some commit their standards to current, cultural conventions; arbitrary values of the moment.  Virtue, on the other hand, depends on eternal patterns.  Virtue is based upon the Personal Eternal Creator.  Jesus’ claims establish the Christian worldview on Himself.[4]

A few years ago, a Christian school asked me to rewrite their handbook.  Developing the “habits of the heart” theme I crafted a number of objectives that are drawn from an external source for an internal focus.  The first four read:

1. The Triune Eternal Personal Creator brought into reality a structured, patterned, ordered world which is both reliable and knowable, given for human good.[5]

2. We help to develop habits in children which are directed toward what God has established as creational law; the way life is to be properly lived. Virtue is the proper ordering of one’s life after God ordained ends.  Virtue is the development of these good habits.  Virtue is creating a disposition toward the good.  To do good is first to think and be good.[6]

3. God has created us for Himself.  The proper response to God and His world is tied to a proper relationship with Him and His creation.[7]

4. We are about building the interior life of a child with the help of The Spirit, under authority of The Word of God.  Some refer to these as “spiritual disciplines.”[8]

“I don’t want to be successful in things that don’t matter.”  My friend’s words still ring in my ears.  He wanted to set aside the valuing processes established by a pagan culture.  I constantly ask myself these questions: (1) “Is this thing an eternal focus?” (2) “Does this activity promote virtuous living?” (3) “Am I reading what will build internal fortitude?”  (4) “Do I practice justice, prudence, temperance, and courage as the framework of my being?” (5) “Is what I see always seen through what is unseen?”  Virtues should trump values.  Otherwise, weak words make for a weak life.

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[1] Harold Brodkey, “Reading, the Most Dangerous Game,” in Reading in Bed: Personal Essays in the Glories of Reading, ed. Steven Gilbar. (David R. Godine, 1995): 104-05.

[2] Sven Birkerts, “The Death of Literature,” in The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age, (Faber and Faber, 1994): 197.

[3] Vigen Guroian. 2005. Rallying the Really Human Things: The Moral Imagination in Politics, Lierature, and Everyday Life. (ISI): 177-86.

[4] Acts 4:12.  Jesus Himself made extraordinary claims about being the only way to eternal salvation.  A few of many passages include John 3:18; 5:24; 6:35-40; 14:6; etc.

[5] Created out of nothing (Romans 4:17) the creation is the personal, intimate (Amos 4:13) work of its Creator (Proverbs 3:19-20; 8:27; Jeremiah 33:2).  The sustaining governance of the world’s systems has been embedded within creation itself (Psalm 33:9; “stood firm” suggests a governor of creation maintains, supports, and oversees the works of God’s hands) evidenced through natural law-the reliable works of God’s creation (Job 28:25-26; Psalm 148:6; Proverbs 8:29) which can be known by humans (Job 28:3, 11).  In this way, the discovery of knowledge by people is inexhaustible (Job 26, esp. v. 14).

[6] Since we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) we are created to do good works (Eph 2:10) but must appropriate virtuous characteristics to be effective and productive believers (2 Peter 1:3-11).  Our responsibility demands effort to possess virtuous qualities demonstrating our Christian belief.

[7] To encourage young people to “remember the Creator in the days of their youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1) is an important foundation stone for life.

[8] Galatians 5:13-6:5.

December 4, 2009 10:00 am

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December 6, 2009 10:00 am

September 25, 2009 3:00 pm

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September 27, 2009 3:00 pm

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center 

Once a year, like clockwork, some student in a new class would utter the infamous, vacuous, student complaint against school work.  “That’s boring!!”  Said pupil would hold out the “-ing” ending, trying to make as much as possible of a point from a two word attack that one can make.  As I mentioned, this happened once a year; and only once.  The reason?  My response. 

“The only thing boring about the subject is you.“  

Always met with a shocked expression, my Christian teacher retort allowed no reaction other than a wide-eyed, open-mouth expression.  “Considering the astonishing creation with which God has blessed us,” I would begin, “nothing in The Creator’s world is ‘boring’.  Every subject is full of discovery.  Every new piece of knowledge is a new opportunity.  Every world wonder is worth a party.  The problem with your negative remark,” I would continue, “is an assault on God and his world.  But that’s not all.  Your comment tells the class that you think you know better about what you should learn.  So here is your chance.  Tell the class what you think we should be learning.”[1] 

An opportunity to defend themselves produced one of three student answers given over the years: (1) “Nothin’” (accompanied by excessive pouting); (2) “I just wanna’ have fun” (at least giving us something substantive to address); and (3) “I want to learn about the ‘real world’” (mouthing an oft used, and sometimes accurate, student lament). 

“I don’t wanna’ learn nothin’” is a lazy person’s point of view.  The underlying ideal within some teenage psyches is someone else will do life for me.  Solomon was just as frank with his students as I was with mine.  “How long will you lie there, O sluggard?  When will you arise from your sleep?”  Proverbs 6:9 demands accountability.  I can hear the impatient[2] teacher speak to the slacker: “When you slack off someone has to pick up your slack!”  The teacher is understandably irritated according to Proverbs 10:26 comparing lazy people to smoke in the eyes and straight vinegar on the teeth.  Laziness also “craves and craves.”[3]  Listless people long for, lust after, desire, covet, wish for, and get, absolutely nothing.[4] 

“I wanna’ do something fun” at least lets us explore what “fun” is.[5]  “Fun,” to my students was essentially, I want to do what I want to do.  Who doesn’t?!  But Solomon likens this person to one who chases fantasies.[6]  “Chase,” in its Hebrew construction, means to persecute, hound, or pursue with abandon.[7]  Picture a small child tricked into believing she could catch the shadows along the wall illumined there by her teasing sibling.  There goes the little one, giggling, reaching for something that is not there!  Not only is the student a child, who wants only fun-something ephemeral, a momentary pleasure, a mist that lasts for an instant-this pupil wants what they want, and nothing else.  But their scholastic situation is dire as Proverbs 28:19 well summarizes: 

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,

but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. (ESV) 

“I want to learn about the ‘real world’” is sometimes a short-sighted viewpoint.  A long range view is difficult with a short range life.  Teenagers have not lived long enough to behave responsibly with time.  Young people do not have a sense that their “real world” now is that of going to school.[8]  [It is important that teachers demonstrate the practical nature of their disciplines.  A mathematics teacher should teach proofs and postulates as well as math habits and application.]  Furthermore, the ant has many lessons to teach in Proverbs 6:6-11.  Oversight is unnecessary: the insect is a self-starter (6:7).  Foresight is essential since the ant plans ahead, preparing for a time when preparation is impossible (6:8).  Insight into the ways of the ant is crucial for the sluggard to learn her lesson (6:6). 

Cornelius Plantinga answers that school is no holding tank where students await the great day when they emerge.  Outside of the academy, people who hold full time jobs use the phrase “the real world” because of the pressure they feel over business and life in general.  In fact, Plantinga argues, if pressure is the “real world,” students know pressure very well!  Every occupation can become a preoccupation.  Working 9 to 5 can be just as insular a life as “cramming for tests and cranking out papers.”  Plantinga’s point?  Anyone can become so focused on their own lives that they don’t know “the real world” either.  “Someone who lives in the ‘real world’ lives with an awareness of the whole world, because the whole world is part of the kingdom of God.[9] 

“Don’t you see?!” I beseeched the new class, “I’m on your side!  I want you to succeed!  But you have to get rid of some of the-let’s be honest here-stupid beliefs our culture peddles.  We are made to believe by television sit-coms that we can have all the fun in the world without any consequences.  Commercials assault our brain with the chorus, ‘You can have it all, and have it now!’  And TV dramas give us the impression that our problems can be overcome in 42 minutes (the real length of so-called hour long shows).”  My preaching was reaching a crescendo, “Don’t believe the hype!  Don’t fall for the line!  I want you to be wiser than your peers!  All that we study is full of discovery and wonder.  Boredom is a sluggard’s attitude.” 

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[1] While this scenario sounds caustic in print, it was always well received in person.  Shocking a student into thinking through what they were saying, supported by the class majority, taught an important lesson.

[2] Robert L. Alden. 1983. Proverbs: A Commentary on an Ancient Book of Timeless Advice. (Baker): 57

[3] Proverbs 21:26.  Robert L. Alden. 1980. awha. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. (Moody): 1:18.

[4] Proverbs 13:4; 21:26. 

[5] Speaking to teachers I sometimes have to remind them not to teach a lesson and then announce, “Now let’s do something fun!”  The obvious suggestion is learning is not fun, something simply to get through so that we can have “fun.”

[6] Proverbs 12:11.  “Fantasy” is translated as “worthless pursuits” by the English Standard Version (ESV).

[7] William White. 1980. rdp. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. (Moody): 2:834.

[8] See my earlier articles in the STUDY series on “Student” as Vocation.

[9] Cornelius Plantinga. 2002. Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living. (Eerdmans): 139-40.  Everyone should read this book: a popular overview of substantive Christian thought.